What to Expect from Google Chrome

What to expect from Google Chrome OS

Speed

Chrome OS is going to pretty much be a web browser that acts as an operating system. There will be added functionality to the traditional web browser such as a file system and hardware support that will help it function as a true operating system, but at it’s heart Chrome OS is going to be just a web browser.

This will allow Google Chrome to be lightning fast compared to other operating systems like Windows or Mac OS X because Chrome will not have to worry about much of the overhead that the other operating systems have to deal with. All of the applications on the system will be web based out in Google’s cloud and should not be processor intensive on the machine.

The majority of processing should take place in the cloud.

Security

With most if not all of the operating systems applications residing on the cloud along with the majority of the files, security becomes much easier for Google to maintain. They can insure that applications are constantly up to date and files are free of viruses by checking for them in the cloud itself. The downside here is that Google is going to insure all applications are up to date, you probably won’t have a choice of keeping an older version of a product you prefer instead of updating.

A New Computer

This operating system is a brand new take on what a computer should be, and for now if you want to run it you are most likely going to have to buy a system built to run this operating system. There are most likely going to be several system requirements for this operating system, the one I know of for sure is the requirement of a solid state drive for a hard drive. This isn’t really Google’s fault because you can’t expect them to write drivers for every bit of hardware imaginable to allow it to run on their operating system.

The good news is that Google is releasing Chrome OS to be open source, so if the operating system takes off the hardware producers can write the drivers themselves. You won’t be locked in to specific hardware as much as you are with Mac systems, but won’t have the same extent of freedom you do with Windows machines.

Several PC manufacturers have already begun developing hardware for Chrome OS, including HP, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Qualcomm, TI, and Intel. So I won’t be too worried about being price gouged on a new Chrome OS machine as there will be plenty of competition out there.

A Greater Dependency on the Internet

As you can imagine with an operating system that is built upon a web browser the Internet is going to be very important to any machine running it. The majority of applications and files used by the operating system will exist only on the Internet. This means if you don’t have an active Internet connection your machine will most likely be a brick. However, this already seems to be the case for most people. When I’m without Internet on my computer it seems the only thing I ever do is play solitaire or listen to music, things I’m sure you’ll be able to find ways to do on Google Chrome without the internet as well.

I also foresee Google partnering with one or more wireless carrier to allow users to be able to use a wireless data connection easily with Chrome OS to access files and applications on the cloud.

I think that right now, Chrome OS might be a couple of years ahead of its time. I booted into it via a USB flash drive this weekend (Bobby on our site wrote about how to do this), and found that I had sort of a “OK, now what?” reaction. I knew going in that it was internet only, but it really hits you when you’re actually using it that all it does is allow you to run a web browser. I think it will be really hamstrung until internet access is everywhere, and even then it will really only be an OS you use on a secondary computer.
.-= Evan´s last blog ..11 Holiday Gift Ideas for the Tech Geek, From $3 to $400 =-.Total Comments by Evan: 104

I got it running on my macbook pro using virtualization, and for me I just don’t see the point right now. I use too many non-web apps to be able to use Chrome OS. The biggest issue for me is messenger clients. Google even points to them in their presentations as something you can do on the web, but I have yet to find a good web based messaging client out there. There just doesn’t seem to be a way of setting up a good notification system from the browser.

I’m not sure that Chrome will ever be a great OS for “Power Users” or even “typical users”. But I think it would be great for people like my Mom or in-laws.

My mom uses exactly one application – email client. My in-laws use exactly two applications – email and web browser. I am being literal – no exaggeration. There’s a ton of overhead in a traditional OS that is completely dead weight for them. Why not run a bare-bones OS that runs wicked fast?Total Comments by kosmo: 685

I totally agree with you Kosmo, it’s good for a small group of people, but I think most people who grew up in this technology driven world are going to turn their nose up at it. I think this operating system will be good for the netbook users they are targeting and that is it.

I think they also made the mistake of it only being a browser, they could have added some small interface improvements to allow users to treat certain web applications as true OS apps like they allow people to do in Chrome browser. I use multiple windows as part of my work flow and that is something hard to change. The main reason I don’t use meebo as my chat client is due to the fact I can’t get used to the way it handles notifications, I prefer a nice bouncing or blinking icon in my task bar to draw my attention to something that can be hidden behind other windows that I get in a web browser.

Hey guys! I recently read an article on Venturebeat from a former Google employee (though he admits to being unaware of the Chrome OS project while he was there) that talks about what he feels is Google’s motivations behind the Chrome OS — it’s actually pretty interesting and he makes some good points beyond the typical “looking to the future of the internet”, delving more into -shaping- the internet as strategic move in the competition game.

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